GenOmics

University of British Columbia researchers have identified a gene in balsam fir trees that could facilitate cheaper and more sustainable production of plant-based fixatives and scents used in the fragrance industry and reduce the need for ambergris, a substance harvested from whale barf.

When sperm whales consume sharp objects, such as seashells and fish bones, their gut produces a sticky substance to protect their digestive organs. They then regurgitate the mixture – much like cats throwing up fur balls – and the vomit, reacting with seawater, turns into rock-like objects that wash ashore. These are collected and refined for their fixative properties. Called ambergris, the scented compound is added to high-end perfumes to help the fragrance stay on the skin longer.

Media Release Montréal, April 04, 2012

The McGill University and Génome Québec Innovation Centre are pleased to announce that they have been awarded funding totalling $7.6 million over a two-year period from Genome Canada’s 2010 Competition: Science and Technology Innovation Centre Operations Support. This award, a record sum for Québec, will be used to fund the operations of the Innovation Centre as well as the services offered to scientific communities in Québec, the rest of Canada and around the world.

Media Release, March 22, 2012 Vancouver, BC

Just over a decade ago, a small Ontario town was the epicenter of Canada’s most significant drinking water related disaster. Close to half of Walkerton’s 5,000 residents fell ill and seven people lost their lives due to the highly dangerous strain of E. coli bacteria found in their drinking water. A research team in the British Columbia Public Health Laboratories, located at the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC), is currently using a novel approach called metagenomics to help prevent anot...

Improving the quality of life of Canadians by developing more effective treatmentsMedia Release, Ottawa, Ontario(January 31, 2012) – The Harper Government today announced an important investment that will help Canadians in getting more effective treatments and make the healthcare system more sustainable through personalized medicine. The announcement was made by the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, and the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology...

Media Release, Vancouver, B.C. Jan. 30, 2012

In March of 1993, Penny Flynn and Jeff Date received devastating news: their nine-month-old daughter Taylor had been diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a cancerous brain tumour. Cancer is the leading cause of non-accidental deaths in children, and medulloblastoma is the most common form of childhood cancer. The few children who do survive the aggressive and debilitating treatments must then often cope with a host of side-effects, such as learning challenges and physical disabilities. In essence...

Request for Applications (RFA) Genomics and Personalized Health A Genome Canada – CIHR PartnershipGenome Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), is seeking proposals for large-scale research projects which focus on the application of genomics1 in the area of Personalized Health. Through this partnership Genome Canada will implement an important element of its Strategic Plan (2012-2017) and CIHR will launch its Personalized Medici...

Genome Canada the umbrella organization for Canada's regional Genome Centres has posted a new Strategic Plan on their website. Genome Canada is a not-for-profit organization established in February 2000 and is funded in large part by Industry Canada. Together with the regional centres such as Genome Alberta, many important large scale genomics research projects and technology platforms have been made possible in Canada.

With a solid track record over the last 10 years, the new Strategic Plan looks ahead for the next 10 years.

Media Release, Ottawa, Dec. 7, 2011

A new study prepared for Genome Canada on the economic value of biotechnology forecasts a 9.4% average annual growth rate in the industry in the next 18 years, which translates into a total value of $144 billion by 2030.

The study by the Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS), an Ottawa-based non-profit economic research organization, and authored by CSLS economist Ricardo de Avillez, says the significance of biotechnology extends beyond the value of economic goods and services to cover job creation, enhanced human health, reduced environmental damage, and greater production capacity.

Genome Canada will be providing information about its upcoming competition. The information session will take place on December 9, 2011 in 2-1 Council Chambers, University Hall, from 1-2 p.m.

Richard Fedorak, Associate Vice-President (Research), and Heather Smith, Genome Alberta Program Coordinator, will be there to answer your questions. David Wishart will also be presenting on The Metabolomics Innovation Centre, a Genome Canada-funded project. Heather will be available after the session to discuss project ideas/proposals with interested researchers.

Vancouver, BC – Genome British Columbia is pleased to announce that two existing BC research and technology platforms have been awarded funding through Genome Canada’s 2010 Science & Technology Innovation Centre (STIC) Operations Support Competition. The technology platforms, now called Science and Technology Innovation Centres (STICs), are led by Dr. Marco Marra of Canada’s Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre (GSC) which will receive up to $6.6 million, and Dr. Christoph Borchers of the...

Blueprint of Spider Mite May Yield Better PesticidesMedia Release, Nov. 23, 2011 – A University of Utah biologist and an international research team decoded the genetic blueprint of the two-spotted spider mite, raising hope for new ways to attack the major pest, which resists pesticides and destroys crops and ornamental plants worldwide.

The voracious mites, which technically are not insects, can eat more than 1,100 plant species – a rare trait. The mites’ newly revealed and sequenced genome contains a variety of genes capable of detoxifying pesticides as well as toxins plants use to defend themselves, the scientists report in the Thursday, Nov. 24 issue of the journal Nature.

EventAccording to a study done by the Pew Research Centre in 2010 six in ten (59%) Americans get news from a combination of online and offline sources on a typical day.1

Online sources are the third major source behind local and national televised news, and the trend toward online news continues. Why does this trend matter in the context of agriculture innovation and to the people working in agri-food research and development? Anti-GM lobbyists have changed their ‘modus operandi’ and a whole new generation of activism has evolved using online channels that blur the distinction between news and activism. Where once interest groups would demonstrate or, in some...

Media Release, Edmonton, October 20, 2011

Genome Alberta announced today that it is leading a group of funding partners on two large-scale genomics projects which will help improve Canada’s livestock sector. These projects build on Genome Alberta’s Applied Livestock Genomics Program which was launched in Dec 2010.

“Application of Genomics to improve Swine Health and Welfare” is a $12.4 million research project lead by Graham Plastow from the University of Alberta, John Harding from the University of Saskatchewan and Bob Kemp from PigGen Canada.

Media Release, Oct. 6, 2011 – HALIFAX, NS

Innovative research may lead to improved therapies for Canadians who suffer from rare diseases. A newly initiated Dalhousie University-based project, Orphan Diseases: Identifying Genes and Novel Therapeutics to Enhance Treatment (IGNITE), targets rare diseases with known or suspected genetic causes.

Funded in part by Genome Canada / Genome Atlantic, the $4.8-million, three-year project is focused on orphan diseases, a term given to rare disorders that, individually, affect small numbers of the population, but, collectively, affect three million Canadians with debilitating symptoms and costly treatments. More than half of these conditions affect children, and the majority have no cure.

Genome Canada Funding Helps Children's Hospital of Philadelphia researchers add to gene inventory of a complex disorderMedia Release, Sept.29, 2011

The largest-ever analysis of genetic data related to type 1 diabetes has uncovered new genes associated with the common metabolic disease, which affects 200 million people worldwide. The findings add to knowledge of gene networks involved in the origin of this complex disorder, in which patients depend on frequent insulin injections to control their blood sugar levels.

Media Release, September 20, 2011

Vancouver, BC – Two British Columbia researchers are making a significant contribution to the development of clean energy through their study of the genetics of the poplar tree. In 2010 both the Government of BC and the Government of Canada mandated a minimum of 5% renewable fuel content in gasoline. Additionally, BC has gone as far as requesting both a 10% reduction in carbon emissions, and a 33% reduction in provincial greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.

Université Laval Researcher Wins Genome Canada's Entrepreneurship Education in Genomics (EEG) CompetitionMedia Release

Québec City, September 15, 2011 – Genome Canada, in partnership with Génome Québec and Université Laval, is pleased to announce that Denis J. Garand, Associate Professor at the Department of Management of the Faculty of Administration, and his team have been awarded $1,12 million for the research project Boosting Entrepreneurial Skills and Training: BEST in Genomics!

Paving the way for personalized treatment(Media Release, Toronto – Aug. 28, 2011) –Cancer scientists have long debated whether all cells within a tumour are equal or whether some cancer cells are more potent - a question that has been highly investigated in experimental models in the last decade. Research published today in Nature Medicine (10.1038/nm.2415) focuses on patients and shows that acute myeloid leukemia (AML) contains rare cells with stem cell properties, called leukemia stem cells...

Minister Goodyear announces $60 million for 16 research projects in forestry, environment, health and agriculture sectors

For immediate release

OTTAWA (March 25, 2011) – Genomics research that will aid in identifying threats to our forests and to the safety of our food and help to develop new treatments for livestock diseases, are among several projects which will receive funding by the Government of Canada through Genome Canada. These investments demonstrate how genomics can be applied for the benefit of Canadians, while creating jobs, strengthening Canada’s reputation as a global leader in science and innovation, and yielding impo...

When we decided to publish our next issue on the broad theme of "Emerging Issues", we thought it would be a great opportunity to reach out to the community of GE3LS researchers AND genomics scientists. The idea was to get input from a few scientists on what issues they thought were emerging, and present these responses to GE3LS researchers, who would offer their respective views from a social science perspective.

Sound easy? Well… not quite. We didn't receive any response from the scientists we asked. Perhaps they were reticent about commenting on issues that could have a societal impact. Maybe we didn't ask the right scientists, or the right questions.